11/13/2007

SAG members will be turning out in force today. I know it's a long list to post here, but I think all of the below actors and actresses should be recognized for standing by us. Thank you, SAG! -JA

WHAT: In a demonstration of the Screen Actors Guild's solidarity with the Writers Guild of America, TV's top stars will turn out tomorrow to walk the picket line at the WGA West's "Picketing with the Stars" to support striking writers.

TV stars slated to appear to support the Writers Guild strike include:

Here's how an article in the International Herald Tribune begins:"As Hollywood digs in for a second week of a strike, the screenwriters might want to send a few angry picketers over to Will Smith's place. Or Steven Spielberg's.

And maybe the studio executives should think about joining them on the line."

And here's the link to the entire article:http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/11/business/strike.php

That's not really accurate. What's preventing the writers from getting paid decently for their work is the greed of the studio executives - no different from any other Capitalist enterprise. It'd be like saying the reason janitors at Microsoft get paid so badly is because the programmers get paid well (note, I have no idea how the janitors at microsoft actually get paid, or if they even have janitors. Don't programmers tend to live in their own filth?). The two really have nothing to do with one another.

The fact is what a Capitalist does is buys someone's labor for as little as they can pay, and sell the product of that labor for as much as they can get. They will always charge as much as they can for product and pay as little as they can for wages no matter what. If the actors all worked for free, they'd still pay the writers as little as they thought they could get away with. If EVERYONE worked for free they'd still charge as much for DVDs, downloads, etc as they thought they could get away with.

That's their job. It's not personal. It's just what they've been hired to do.

Your point is well made and taken, David.I would just like to add 2 points of my own:1. If (I say "if"), as the IHT seems to suggest, the industry as a whole is losing money, then that bodes ill for the writers.2. "Greed of studio executives" = bad. Greed of film and TV stars - OK?

I tend to agree that the writers deserve a share in the new media profit somehow, but I don't agree with the strike and I can't support it in principle because people ARE getting paid to do a job they enjoy. These aren't coal miners or people that are subject to terrible conditions just to make enough of a wage to support their families. Alot of these writers are ridiculously rich and that doesn't mean that they just shouldn't get paid, but if these guilds and these efforts of solidarity are actually of any merit, then they should be looking at the redistribution of the profits among their membership. I see actors picketing and it offends me because its more acting on their part. If actors care so much about writers, why don't they accept a small percentage cut from their deals to finance paying the writers more? I get that this is supposed to be about the studios sharing from the new media profit trickle but, at the end of all things, its basically about money and as long as the writers are getting more of it, I doubt they'll care about where its coming from and they can get back to the business of entertaining viewers, who are the people that are really suffering from this.ybgtn

Brandon - so if you enjoy your job then you aren't entitled to be paid the same as if you work a job you hate? Writers, in my opinion, are the main reason we even have television and movies. They come up with the dialogue and storylines that keep us hooked and coming back for more. All they want is their fair share - a small (TINY) percentage of what is being made overall. If the studios don't make money - they don't either. It's that simple. While I will miss my favorite shows for awhile, I think the strike is completely necessary. Just because a person has a "fun" or "easy" job (and I don't think writing is easy - far from it) doesn't mean they shouldn't get paid for ALL of the work they do.

these arent all actors picketing, some of these actors are actors and writers, like i assume ray romano the comic and artie lange from the stern show. where are the big names with the 'union solidarity' like tom cruise, al pacino, leading dramatic actors who dont write anything, this picketing helps your credibility as much as it hurts it. i call em like i see em.

Links from Around the Web

The Big Introduction

Who are you people? United Hollywood advocates for working people in the entertainment industry facing the digital revolution. We are not an official site of any guild or union, so our opinions are our own. Founded by a group of WGA strike captains, our contributors are both writers and non-writers. If you've got any questions or stories we should know about, email us at unitedhollywood [at] gmail [dot] com.

Video Blogging

Check out U.H. videos on our YouTube page. Here are a few from our page and from some of our friends: